Mood Follows Action
Mood Follows action
Mood Follows Action was written on February 24, 2023. It is the third of five popular essays from 2023’s Thin Slices, a subscriber-only segment of the Wiley Weekly Newsletter.
Each essay was first available to Wiley subscribers. You can subscribe to the Wiley Subscription for access to all essays here.
The Paris Review recently shared the following quote by E. B. White:
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
This quote reminds me of one of many lessons I learned while writing The Wiley Canning Company Cookbook.
As a working mother, the flow and senses of my day are often unpredictable. In order to complete my cookbook, I had to become comfortable recipe testing in a noisy home, writing in 20-minute spurts, and constantly reorienting myself as my priorities inevitably shifted each day. Instead of waiting to write, for example, until I was in the mood, I had to simply sit down and write. This reality taught me an invaluable lesson.
Mood follows action.
If I want to be in the mood to write, I must sit down, open my laptop, and begin writing. Once I hear the sound of my fingers navigating a keyboard, I want to write.
If I want to be in the mood to run, I must stretch my body, put on my sneakers, and turn on my favorite playlist. Once I feel the cushion of my sneakers beneath my feet and hear music through my headphones, I want to run.
The same can be true for countless daily actions: calling a friend, cooking a meal, reading a book…you name it. Begin the action, and your mood will follow.
This lesson has also been shared with me by Daphne Javitch of Doing Well. I highly recommend consuming her wisdom when possible.
Photo by: Zachary Gray